Pride by Ibi Zoboi | Review
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Genre/s: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Retelling.
Pride is a stunning modernised remix of the classic Pride and Prejudice. Whether you've read Pride and Prejudice or not you will no doubt enjoy this cute, contemporary. I myself haven't read Pride and Prejudice in it's entirety but I do know the story well. And I have to say that I really enjoyed Ibi Zoboi's take on the classic tale.
The book follows Zuri Benitez; as she is quickly thrown off guard by her new neighbours. She's used to her neighbourhood how it is, how it's always been, but things are changing. The wealthy family that moves in across the street, is the icing on the cake and the arrogant boys are the cherry on top of the icing. But other things are changing too, and she has to come to grips with the fact that her life and future may not end up the exact way in which she imagined.
“It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing they want to do is clean it up.”
Obviously with this being a retelling there are tropes that I have read many times. And even though I really enjoyed the story in a new setting, it was a predictable story and I do wish that the author had added more of plot twist to keep it even more fresh. If you're looking for a quick contemporary and have been waiting for a Pride and Prejudice retelling, I'm pretty sure you'll absolutely love this. I just think that I had way too high expectations. You know when you see a book that's coming out and you read the synopsis that you're given, but then you basically make up the story you want to read in your head and then when you actually read the book there is absolutely no possibility that it will ever meet what expectations you have. That's exactly how I felt while reading this story. It was great but just not exactly what I was looking for. Which is honestly entirely my fault. My advice with this is to not think about it too much and just go straight into reading, that way you'll be more likely to enjoy it.
My favourite thing about this book was the equality and how family based it is. It was great to see how Zuri is a character who really has so much pride for her neighbourhood, family and just herself as a person. At times she did get a little annoying though, she may have had pride for the things she believes in but her prejudice was real annoying. But the story is literally a retelling of pride and prejudice so I can't really complain can I?
The writing was excellent, I'll definitely be picking up American Street soon, because Ibi Zoboi has amazing talent. In addition the poetry that was intertwined with the story was brilliant, I'm not usually the biggest fan of poetry but somehow I loved it in this book?!
“We’re not gonna throw away the past as if it meant nothing. See? That’s what happens to whole neighbourhoods. We built something, it was messy, but we’re not gonna throw it away.”
Overall it was a very refreshing, diverse, contemporary with a headstrong protagonist that I would definitely recommend giving a read.
Rating: 58%
Thank you so much to Harper Collins for sending me an ARC of this lovely book! Disclaimer: All opinions are honest and my own. (Quotes are taken from finished copy.)
Thanks for reading! I hope you guys are having a lovely day!
- Sophie Elaina
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